1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a shock absorbing structure for a vehicle. More particularly, the invention is concerned with such a shock absorbing structure which is capable of being disposed in narrow spaces having various different configurations.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In a motor vehicle or other vehicle, in general, a shock absorbing structure is provided to be located adjacently to an interior component, such as a pillar garnish, roof side rail, an instrument panel and a console box, which would be possibly brought into contact with an occupant's body in the event of a collision of the vehicle with a certain object. The shock absorbing structure is disposed on one of opposite sides of the interior component that is remote from an occupants' component of the vehicle, for alleviating an impact or shock applied to the occupant's body upon contact of the interior component with the occupant's body, so as to protect the occupant's body in the event of the collision.
The shock absorbing structure is conventionally formed of various materials such as a synthetic resin material, a metal material such as aluminum, and a paper-aluminum composite material. In particular, the shock absorbing structure formed of the synthetic resin material has excellent formability and advantageously has a reduced weight.
As such a shock absorbing structure formed of the synthetic resin material and having a good formability and a reduced weight, there are known various types of structures which have respective constructions. For instance, there is known a shock absorbing structure including a plurality of shock-absorbing main bodies which are made of a resin and are spaced apart from each other, and a plurality of connecting bodies each of which is made of a synthetic resin and connects adjacent two of the main bodies, so that the shock absorbing structure is provided by a single piece constituted by the main bodies and the connecting bodies.
As examples of such a shock absorbing structure, JP-A-9-150692, JP-A-11-348699, JP-A-2000-211454, and JP-A-2002-166804 (which are laid-open publications of unexamined Japanese Patent Applications) disclose respective structures each including (a) a plurality of shock-absorbing main bodies which are made of a resin and are spaced apart from each other, and (b) a connecting body/bodies made of a synthetic resin material. Each of the main bodies consists of a box-like body, polygonal tubular body, or tapered tubular body, for instance, and has a lateral wall which extends substantially in a direction in which a shock is primarily applied to the shock absorbing structure. Each connecting body in the form of a bar or a plate connects adjacent two of the main bodies, so that the shock absorbing structure is provided by a single piece constituted by the main bodies and the connecting body/bodies. JP-A-10-24789 discloses a shock absorbing structure including a plurality of main bodies each in the form of a rib formed of a synthetic resin material, and a substrate as a connecting body. The ribs are disposed on the substrate formed of a synthetic resin material such that the ribs are spaced apart from each other, so that the shock absorbing structure is provided by a single piece constituted by the main bodies and the connecting body.
The above-described conventional shock absorbing structures, wherein the shock-absorbing main bodies which are spaced apart from each other are connected by the connecting body or bodies, is designed such that a necessary number of the shock absorbing main bodies are positioned at necessary positions in the space located on the side of the interior component that will be likely to be brought into contact with the occupant's body in the event of the collision, which side is remote from the occupants' component of the vehicle. Upon application of a shock or impact to the shock absorbing structure, the main bodies are deformed or buckled, whereby the shock absorbing structure exhibits an effective shock absorbing capacity.
In general, the space located on the side of the interior component such as the pillar garnish or roof side rail varies in shape or configuration, depending upon the type of vehicle. Although the shock absorbing structure has the advantageous structure described above wherein the main bodies are connected by the connecting bodies, it has been a common practice to prepare various shock absorbing structures having respective different shapes which are designed in accordance with the different shapes of the spaces in the various types of vehicles, thereby problematically impeding an increase in the production efficiency and a reduction in the production cost of the shock absorbing structure.
It might be considered possible that the shock absorbing structure having the above-described structure is made compact in size so as to be accommodated in the narrow spaces having different configurations, and that the connecting members, each connecting adjacent ones of the main bodies and formed of a synthetic resin material having a high degree of flexibility, is curved or bent, so that the shock absorbing structure is accommodated in the narrow spaces by deformation or flexure of the connecting members following the configurations of the spaces.
In the shock absorbing structure disclosed in JP-A-9-150692 or JP-A-11-348699 described above, only one connecting member is disposed between adjacent ones of the main bodies so as to extend in a direction in which the main bodies are spaced apart from each other. In the thus constructed shock absorbing structure, the single connecting body is bent or curved so as to permit the adjacent ones of the main bodies to be easily positioned at desired positions. Accordingly, the shock absorbing structure can be easily installed in the accommodating space by deformation or flexure of the connecting body following the configuration of the space. In the disclosed shock absorbing structure, however, the strength with which the adjacent ones of the main bodies are connected to each other is inevitably insufficient since the adjacent ones of the main bodies are connected by only one connecting body.
Upon application of a shock to the thus constructed shock absorbing structure generated by contact of the occupant with the interior component of the vehicle, for instance, the connection between the adjacent ones of the shock-absorbing main bodies is undesirably broken, whereby the main bodies are displaced from respective positions that enable the main bodies to effectively absorb the shock applied to the structure. In this case, the amount of deformation of each main body upon application of the shock to the structure is insufficient, causing a risk of insufficient shock absorbing capacity of the structure.
In the shock absorbing structure disclosed in JP-A-10-24789, a plurality of shock-absorbing main bodies are disposed integrally with the connecting body in the form of the substrate which includes a plane perpendicular to the direction in which the shock or impact is applied to the main bodies. In this arrangement, while the strength with which the adjacent ones of main bodies are connected to each other is sufficient, it is quite difficult to curve or bend the connecting body in the form of the substrate in the above-described plane perpendicular to the shock-receiving direction even where the connecting body is formed of a synthetic resin material having flexibility.
In the shock absorbing structure disclosed in JP-A-2000-211454, two connecting bodies connect adjacent ones of the main bodies such that the two connecting bodies are spaced apart from each other, in a plane perpendicular to a direction in which the shock is applied to the main bodies, by a suitable distance in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the structure in which the main bodies are spaced apart from each other. Unlike the single connecting member which connects the adjacent ones of the main bodies in the shock absorbing structure disclosed in the above-indicated publication, the two connecting members which connect the adjacent ones of the main bodies in the shock absorbing structure disclosed in JP-A-2000-211454 are difficult to be easily curved or bent in a plane perpendicular to the shock-receiving direction, by application of a force which causes the two connecting members to be curved or bent in that plane. This is because, upon application of the above-described force to the connecting members, at least one of the two connecting members tends to inhibit the adjacent two main bodies from moving toward or away from each other.
Thus, it is difficult to curve or bend the entirety of the shock absorbing structures disclosed in the above-described publications such as JP-A-10-24789 and JP-A-2000-211454. It is accordingly quite difficult to accommodate the disclosed shock absorbing structures into the accommodating space while the entirety of the structures is deformed or flexed therein following the configuration of the space.